Karen and I had never heard of Meknes. No reason we would have unless we were students of Morrocco and its history. You likely have never heard of Moulay Isma’il, either. Neither had we until our guide in Meknes started talking to us about him as if he were Franklin Roosevelt or someone famous like that. However, if you lived in Morocco in the late 17th century, which was a century before American independence, you would have witnessed a literal transformation under him.
His brother, Rashid, united the country, but only reigned as the Sultan for six more years before passing away. Upon his death Isma’il moved the Royal capital from Fez to Meknes, where he had been governor. He had to reconquer both Fez and Marrakech, the only other major cities at the time, from a rival nephew, which likely led him to distrust the elites living in those cities.
Upon accession, he began to build a royal palace in Meknes, which remained under construction throughout his fifty-five-year reign. The wars with Fez and Marrakech taught him the value of a large standing army, which led him to build an underground prison where not only his soldiers could live, but also those captured from opposing forces could be held. It was said to have been designed to hold forty-thousand people, accessible only through an underground tunnel from the basement of the Royal Palace. When visiting Meknes, our guide informed us the underground structure encompassed over seven kilometers of tunnels. And more have yet to be discovered and explored.
Karen had read about the Royal Stables in Meknes. The travel guide had mentioned that the Sultan had owned over twelve-thousand horses. As a former horse owner, Karen was all about seeing the horses. When we arrived and asked our guide about the stables and the horses, he informed us what we thought was wrong. Moulay Ism’ail’s horses were for his army and were long gone. The massive building historians had labelled as the stables was not laid out in the configuration needed to house and feed horses. Further research led to the determination that the huge building may have been a granary. Historians decided that Moulay Isma’il likely thought he needed to store enough grain to feed the people of Meknes for a year because of the recurring wars.
During the years after his death, this structure fell into disrepair and its true purpose faded from memory. Another less impressive structure close by likely served as the stables.
Also close by Meknes is Volubilis, a Roman city of nearly twenty-five thousand inhabitants at its peak in 200 AD. Volubilis, according to our guide, was named after a flower that grew naturally in the area. It was a highly productive barley and wheat farming area, but not close to the coast. Our guide pointed out that the houses for the elite families were larger than in most Roman cities. Probably a perk to lure important people to a remote place on the fringe of the empire. It apparently worked, as the remnants show it was a thriving city during both the pagan and Christian eras. Two temples, adjacent to each other, show both religions were practiced at the same time.
Volubilis is as well preserved as Pompeii or the foundation of the Roman governor’s home in Sicily. Meknes and Volubilis are surprising reminders of civilizations existing before the American Revolution.
